Lizards and Ducks and Spiders OH MY

More action shots of wild animals in St. Kitts.

The other day I was studying on the patio outside of the student union and I glanced over to see a little friend watching me. He was long, brilliant green with a gorgeous blue ridge, and looking at me very suspiciously. I tried snapping a pic of him, but one little movement from me induced a flight response faster than a hungry vet student at the Marriott buffet.

My little friend was so intriguing that I decided to take a little study break and seek him out below the patio. Unfortunately he was unavailable for the paparazzi, but I found two or three close friends of his just hanging out down there. Check this guy out: (note the size of the screws in the wood as scale)

I particularly like this ‘Profile of a Sunbathing Lizard’.

Action shot of him trying to avoid the paparazzi.

Seriously, these guys have Floridian lizards BEAT!

Staring contest.

The other day we were sitting at lunch studying anatomy (ironic how the smell doesn’t bother you nearly as much after it has removed all of your scent-detecting ability), and in a fit of repressed creativity busting out Kristin made this:

I think the texture of the crumpled foil gives it a nice 3D quality.

In another story alluding to anatomy, I was sitting by the window last week and in my ADD haze glanced over to witness the Coolest Thing Ever. A rather large jumping spider (we all know how I feel about those) was hanging out on the glass watching a rather larger fly buzz around drunk on formalin. The fly really should not have drunk and flown. It would crawl along the glass moving tantalizingly close to the spider without coming in arms reach. The spider just sat there watching the fly move back and forth across his path without taking any action whatsoever. In a fit of evil, I finally tired of watching their cat-n-mouse game and gently prodded the fly basically on top of the spider. I was rewarded for my empathetic attempt at putting the poor dying-of-formalin fly down by witnessing the Coolest Thing Ever (Yes, I realize I repeated that. It’s for emphasis, not because I’m not paying attention). The spider grabbed onto the fly and held on while it made a very pathetic attempt to escape. Personally I think the fly was a little bit lonely and just wanted a hug. Anyhow, once the fly calmed down a bit this rather small spider made his way far away from the large human who kept sticking her fingers near it, shoving himself into the corner and sucking away at his tainted prey (second-hand formalin anyone?). I snapped this shot just before he wandered away from me:

Please note the cleanliness of the windows. For pity’s sake (yours) I’m going to go ahead and say it is paint splatters.

I hope you enjoyed my local wildlife shots here on the island, I’m off to…what class?....study.

I heart Cows.

Today was my first calf wrangling experience.

Yes, calf wrangling.

I never in a million years thought when I was younger "how fun would it be to get all dirty and stinky running around a calf pen trying to rope an unbroken calf and then force it to walk around a paddock so it gets used to being roped?".

Don't get me wrong, I've always loved cows. From a distance. I moo at them on the highway, watch them every day frolicking in the fields on the way to and from campus...but really real cowgirl stuff? Totally a pipe dream.

Until today.

Practicing our rope tying abilities...

Yup, I think we can hold a couple of calves with these!

Kristin #1 came along for the ride, and between us we were able to sneak some good photographic proof of the event (no pics aloud on campus, thank you very much PETA). Unfortunately, there were no action shots of me with a cow...but I wrangled like a pro. Kristin is all of 80 pounds wet and she would not let her calf have any power. I was very proud of her:

Yes, that is a young adolescent calf. Kristin is just THAT tiny.

You cannot even begin to understand how excited we were to get in there and learn about handling cows.

Kristin and I super duper excited. Notice my Dickies coveralls I have been dying to wear all semester. Blasting HOT.

They are really interesting, for example they have something like 180 degree vision, and they get really nervous when you stand in certain areas of vision/non-vision (very prey-like behavior). They don't kick like horses (backwards), it's more like a roundhouse kick out to the side. They don't like change much, and are really really distracted/nervous when something is different in their environment or route (ie. to/from the paddock to the barn). Designing a good cow facility is like an art form. You have to Be The Cow to truly be successful and have Happy Cows.

Our first victims round the corner...and stop so short that the one in the back ran into the front one's butt.

This little newbie calf really did not like us.

Hmmm...maybe if we just mill around over here they won't notice us....

These were not Happy Cows. They were not interested in the least in playing nicely.

I now have mucho increased respect for my fellow large animal vets/techs/workers/etc. Those little guys were bucking, and it took all of my attention and energy to maintain control on them. I cannot imagine (or wait!) until we are working on the donkeys and adult cows. Super excited.

Slipping the halter over the calf's head.

Properly aligned harness.

This little guy was an absolute pain-in-the-ass.

Anna's turn for some harnessing.

The harnessing is really the easy part...it's the forcing an adolescent animal who weighs more than you to walk where you want them to that's difficult.

Very stubborn calves.

Notice the ineffective screwing of the tail. Supposedly that makes them walk forward, but statistically it didn't work that well. Of course, it could easily have been user error.

Success! Sort of...still need to go to the next paddock!

After rounding them all into the bigger paddock, we practiced walking them back and forth to get them used to handling. Sounds easy and all, but seriously folks. They're not just big Labs.

Post-Calf-Wrangling-Glow. Or it could be the smell wafting around me. Whatev.

Post-cow hands. Haven't been this dirty in a long time. You know you've really worked hard when even your boogers are dirty. (that one's for Kristin!) :)

And what better way to celebrate a successful calf wrangling afternoon than to shower up and receive a free catered meal with my fellow on campus mates?! With those crazy dorm fees you betcha the meal was free and all-you-can-eat-until-its-gone.

Clockwise from top middle:
*Pasta salad with some sort of italian dressing (yum!)

*Curried goat. Yes, goat.

*BBQ chicken.

*Some sort of hash brown vege deliciousness.

*Corn. Duh.

*The little puff pastry looking goodness are called Johnny Cakes. A little bland, but delish with the curried goat sauce!

And for dessert: ginger ice cream on spiced pound cake. The ice cream was a bit spicy for me, not a very typically ice cream taste...but mixed with the spice cake it was FABULOUS!

Time to return to the books!

Lesson of the Week #3.

I know it's been a while, please forgive me.

Tomorrow we have what I feel is the biggest exam thus far (anatomy). There is both a lecture and lab portion (all of you vets out there can just skip over this part, you've been there/done that):

Lecture
cranial nerves
spinal nerves
male and female reproductive systems (functions, organs, innervations, blood supply, etc)
urinary system (functions, organs, innervations, blood supply, etc)
plus 10 questions reviewing all previous material
Lab
pelvic limb (all muscles, blood supply, nerves, lymphatics, and bones)
spinal cord/nerves/muscles
neck (all muscles, blood supply, nerves, lymphatics, and bones)
face (all muscles, blood supply, nerves, lymphatics, and bones)
skull (all bones, holes, etc.)

Why am I telling you all this during my lesson of the week? Well, because during review last week in lab Dr. Horowitz was going through the muscles along the spine and he told us about a nifty little muscle tucked in there who's job it is to lift the tail. Of course, that muscle won't be on our exam. And inevitably, that was the first muscle I memorized.

Sacrocaudalis dorsalis lateralis.

It just rolls off the tongue so easily. Very fun.

The second muscle I memorized, also NOT on the exam:

Levator labii superioris muscle.

That one is nicknamed "The Elvis Muscle", given that Elvis used it to make his funny face. I think it should be the "F-ing Chow Tried To Bite My Face" muscle.

So that's it folks, enjoy your new-found knowledge of canine anatomy and I'll talk to you later if I haven't drowned myself in formalin first.

Toodles!

I love Balloons.

Thanks again to Kristin#1 for introducing me to these. Seriously folks, I almost choked on lunch laughing at this one.



Classic!



This one is a little long, but seriously...what kind of crack is this guy ON?!!

Mind Warp.

To give you a sense of the significant mind warping our studies produce, please watch the following video with the understanding that it makes us pee in our pants.